Sudbury city councillor raises concerns about city's bid to host ferrochrome smelter

A municipal politician in Sudbury is speaking out against a possible chromite smelter in Coniston.

Ward Two councillor Michael Vagnini says he never supported the city's bid to host the smelter.

Noront Resources plans to build a facility that will process ferrochrome from the Ring of Fire. Four communities, including Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, have put forward bids to host the facility.

Vagnini says he didn't have a vote on the package the City of Greater Sudbury sent to Noront.

"I did not raise my hand to say let's go and put this bid in," he said.

"Council was aware of it, it was circulated, but there was no vote on it."

Precautions taken

Recently, Sudbury mayor Brian Bigger, city officials and Wahnapitae First Nation chief Ted Roque toured a ferrochrome facility in Tornio, Finland. After the trip, Bigger told CBC News he was confident hosting a smelter would be safe for Sudbury.

"I'm very comfortable with their ferrochrome processes after talking with experts and speaking to public health officials and the people of Tornio," Bigger said.

"When you land here and see the proximity of the plant to water, and rivers going into the sea, they've taken all the precautions to make sure they're not affecting the water in anyway," he added.

But Vagnini says he's not reassured by the mayor's praise of the plant in Finland. He says he's done some reading and thinks there are safety issues that need to be discussed.

"I am not going to say that I am the ten minute armchair quarterback who became an expert because I read three reports. I will be the first to say that," Vagnini said.

"But the more I see, common sense tells me that there's a lot more going on to this that we have to be aware of."

Residents of Coniston have also expressed concern about the impact such a facility could have on the community.